The primary aim of this prospective randomized trial is to determine if acupuncture is effective in preventing postoperative paralytic ileus (PPI) among cancer survivors undergoing colostomy/ileostomy closure. Additional objectives are to: 1) compare post-surgical quality of life status between treatment and control groups in terms of pain, use of opioid analgesics, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, abdominal distention/fullness, activity, and sense of well-being; and 2) compare costs due to extended hospital stay and care related to ileus between patients who develop PPI and those who do not. This study will also provide preliminary data for subsequent large scale projects and serve as a basis for future research in an area where existing evidence is sparse, yet potential benefits to patient care are considerable. [unreadable] [unreadable] The treatment group will receive acupuncture with electrical stimulation twice each day for 20 minutes beginning on postoperative day 1 and ending on postoperative day 4 for a total of 8 treatments. With each treatment session, 10 needles will be placed on points LI-4, Sp-6, St-36, St-25, CV-6, and CV-12, and electro-acupuncture will be applied at points LI-4 and St-36. A bowel motility index including bowel sounds, passage of flatus, bowel movement, and diet tolerance will be recorded for both groups until 72 hours after acupuncture treatments have been stopped or until hospital discharge. Information regarding pain, use of opioid analgesics, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, abdominal distention/fullness, activity, and general sense of well-being will be compared between groups. Time (in hours) for each bowel motility indicator (bowel sounds, passage of flatus, and bowel movement) and time to hospital discharge will be compared between groups using standard survival techniques both as Kaplan-Meier analysis and adjusting for the other measured parameters in the study using proportional hazards analyses. Contingency table methods and logistic regression will be used to determine related parameters. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]